Community Apple Press in Sebastopol

[Sara S]

Community apple press open next week
by Amie Windsor Sonoma West Staff Writer [email protected]

Popularity pushes early opening

There’s nothing quite as satisfying or unique as biting into a just-off-the-branch, perfectly ripe apple and having its juice drip down your chin or trickle down your arm. The experience is so … Sonoma County.
Or at least it used to be, before orchards became overwrought by vineyards. While apples are still a part of the county’s agriculture, the weight of the apple no longer provides as big of a buck for farmers.

In an effort to preserve the fruit, especially the Gravenstein, Sonoma County’s hallmark apple, Slow Food Russian River has opened the Sebastopol community apple press free for the public to use at the Luther Burbank Experiment Farm.

“This is part of the save the Gravenstein apple effort,” said Bob Burke. “We’ve been trying for 13, 14 years to build demand for Sonoma County apples so farmers can stay in business.”

Burke, volunteer with Slow Food Russian River, has volunteered to work the community apple press since its inception two years ago. Now starting its third season, the apple press brings West County families and visitors alike to try their hand at making fresh pressed cider, Burke said.

While community apple presses are popular in New Zealand and Europe, Burke said, he believes the Sebastopol-based press is one-of-a-kind in the U.S.

“I claim this is the only community cider press in America,” he said.

The apple press is one of many ideas Slow Food Russian River has engaged in to help preserve the popularity of the apple.

“This is our most recent and most successful idea yet,” Burke said.

After receiving approval from the city and the county, the next obvious step for the group was to acquire a cider press. Thanks to Sebastopol’s Community Benefit Grant program, the team was able to purchase a press, after borrowing presses from Tilted Shed’s Ellen Cavalli and Sebastopol realtor Edie Otis.

“Cavalli’s press was the real workhorse for those first two years,” Burke said. “It was a powerful press.”

Now, Slow Food Russian River opens its own apple press up to the community.

“There are no end of stories,” Burke said, reminiscing over the past two years. Burke’s favorite tale spun a web of a retired man living on a fixed income.

“He appreciate the availability of the press and wanted to make a donation,” Burke said. “He wrote a check and asked us to wait until the 15th to deposit it.”

The check was for $15.

“It was a modest amount, but significant for him,” Burke said. “He found it in his heart for write a check for something he loved.”

The popularity of the press has pushed Slow Food Russian River to open it up to the public two weeks earlier than usual this year. Opening weekend is Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 6 and 7, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Reservations, which can be made by visiting the Slow Food Russian River website, are required.

The apple press will make its way to the Gravenstein Apple Fair, Saturday and Sunday Aug. 13 and 14, but will resume hours back at the Luther Burbank Experiment Farm the following weekend, and will stay open through the last weekend in October.

Using the press is simple. Bring your own (washed) apples and plastic containers. Glass bottles are not recommended, for safety measures, should they break. Half-gallon containers are also available for $1.

According to the Slow Food Russian River website, a five-gallon bucket holds about 20 pounds of apples, which will produce about one gallon of juice. Apple press volunteers request visitors limit their quantity of apples to no more than 100 pounds so that many people can use the press.

Not sure where to get 100 pounds of apples? Slow Food Russian River lists 23 apple growers in Sonoma County, from Austin Heritage Fruit Ranch in Guerneville or Giusti Ranch in Forestville to Hale’s Apple Farm, Gabriel Farm, K&K Orchard and more, located in Sebastopol.